BASEBALL; Cameron and Beltran Injured in Collision

By LEE JENKINS

Published: August 12, 2005

As the Mets left for Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, Mike Cameron was at one hospital, Carlos Beltran was at another, and the rest of the team was in a fragile and shaken state.

They had witnessed the most violent collision many players had ever seen. Cameron was placed on the disabled list after he broke his nose, sustained multiple fractures of his cheekbones and was found to have a concussion. Beltran had a sore left shoulder and a cut on his left cheek. He told trainers he was dizzy. Cameron had two CT scans and Beltran had one.

The Mets were less concerned about the result of the game, a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres, than the result of the medical tests being run on two of their premier players. Cameron spent the night at Mercy Hospital near downtown San Diego, and Beltran spent the night at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. The rest of the Mets took a bus to Los Angeles, still reconstructing what they had seen.

With one out in the seventh inning, San Diego pinch-hitter David Ross lofted a fly ball toward shallow right-center field. Beltran, the Mets' starting center fielder, and Cameron, the Gold Glove center fielder who moved to right this season to accommodate Beltran, bolted toward the gap. Most right fielders might have peeled away, but because Cameron is a center fielder by trade, his instinct is to pursue.

They dived headlong at precisely the same moment toward precisely the same point. They met in midair -- head to head, cheek to cheek -- and crumpled together, leaving a patch of bloodstained grass. The force was so great that Cameron's sunglasses flew off and landed in center field. ''I don't remember anything of what happened,'' Beltran said. ''I felt like I was kind of lost.''

He could not even remember whether he had called for the ball. More than 10 minutes after it dropped, Cameron was taken from the field on a stretcher. Beltran hobbled into the clubhouse with a trainer. The Mets did not know when they would be able to play again. The Mets called up Victor Diaz from Class AAA Norfolk to start in right field.

In the moments after the collision, second baseman Kazuo Matsui ran out to pick up the ball and hold Ross to a triple. First baseman Marlon Anderson ran out to attend to Cameron. The play was barely over and Manager Willie Randolph was sprinting from the dugout, followed by two trainers, followed by two paramedics, followed by four more members of medical personnel.

When Anderson reached the outfield, he noticed that neither player was moving and started to panic. As Anderson kneeled next to Cameron, he saw blood coming out of his mouth, the most blood he had ever seen on a baseball field. He thought that Cameron's nose also looked askew. Anderson said he put his hands on Cameron's chest and asked him, ''Cam, can you hear me?'' According to Anderson, Cameron mumbled, ''Yeah.''

''I couldn't imagine being a paramedic going to the scene of a wreck, because that's pretty much what it was: a wreck,'' Anderson said.

Relief pitchers came streaming from the bullpen. Everyone on both benches climbed to the top steps. Left fielder Cliff Floyd tried to approach Cameron, his closest friend on the team, but he said he saw blood on the turf and became too choked up. He walked away and crossed himself.

On the opposing side, San Diego infielder Damian Jackson flashed back to the 2003 American League division series, when he was playing second base for the Boston Red Sox and went out on a fly ball to shallow center field. His head hit the side of Johnny Damon's face and they had lain motionless on the field. ''At that point, when you see guys down, you forget about the game,'' Jackson said. ''We were all in our dugout saying a little prayer for them.''

Although Jackson said this collision was more brutal than the one he was involved in two years ago, Randolph maintained he had seen much worse. ''It is sometimes surprising guys don't get hurt more,'' Randolph said.

Players who approached Cameron on the ground said he did not know where he was, but they were at least relieved he could move his arms and legs. Anderson announced that he was definitely not paralyzed. As Cameron was carted off, his hands over his head and his cap covering his face, Floyd said that he flashed a subtle but encouraging thumbs-up. Two batters later, Joe Randa singled home Jackson, pinch-running for Ross, for the eventual winning run.

''It stinks that we lost and it stinks that one of our buddies got hurt,'' said starting pitcher Tom Glavine, who gave up two runs and had three hits.

Already on edge, Floyd got hit in the left knee with a fastball from relief pitcher Akinori Otsuka in the eighth inning and collapsed in the batters' box, clutching his helmet. Frustrated for a handful of reasons, Floyd claimed that Otsuka had thrown at him on purpose. ''You can't let teams disrespect you like that,'' he said. ''It's too bad we don't play them again.''

Floyd stayed in the game mainly because the Mets had so few healthy outfielders left on their roster. X-rays on Floyd's knee were negative and he plans to play Friday against the Dodgers. Beltran will probably need some time to clear his head. And Cameron will be out indefinitely, the latest setback in a season marred by injuries and trade rumors.

Cameron never wanted to play right field in the first place. He moved there because Beltran signed a $119-million contract in January and was able to dictate his position. Going into the season, the Mets acknowledged that having two center fielders in the everyday lineup posed some risk. During an interview about potential collisions in spring training, Beltran said: ''The center fielder has priority. If the center fielder calls, you've got to get out of the way.''

Cameron countered: ''I'm not going to change my game. I have to play the same style I always have.''

Photos: After running into each other in the seventh yesterday in San Diego, Mets right fielder Mike Cameron sustained multiple facial fractures, while center fielder Carlos Beltran was left cut and bruised and feeling dizzy. (Photo by Photographs by Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press)(pg. D1); The Padres' Brian Giles scored from second on a fourth-inning single as Ramon Castro failed to hold on to the ball. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)(pg. D8)